Translate a WordPress Theme in 3 Easy Steps
Lately, more and more people are asking us how to translate a WordPress theme into a language other than English. And with an estimated 2 billion people now online, it’s no wonder. Fortunately, it’s a fairly straightforward process, and I’ve boiled it down into 3 simple steps.
This tutorial assumes the WordPress theme to be translated has been localized using the the GNU gettext framework. In other words, the theme is ready to be translated. If your theme has not been localized, you’ll need to go through each theme file and convert all English language text into a gettext function. See here for a short description on how to do that.
New WordPress Theme: WP-Inspired
WP-Inspired is the latest premium WordPress theme to roll off the production lines here at Solostream. If you take a gander at the screenshot (and demo site) you’ll notice WP-Inspired offers a few more splashes of color than some of our other recent themes like WP-Prosper and WP-Glide. In fact, we’ve given you ten different color options with this theme, and they’re all easily accessible via the theme settings page.
Like most of our recent themes, WP-Inspired is loaded with options. Multiple home page layouts, two featured content gliders, social networking account integration, recent photos galleries and a YouTube videos widget are just a few of the little nuggets you’ll have to play with. Be sure to take a peek at demo video on the WP-Inspired sales page to get the full run-down. Go ahead. Get Inspired.
How to Create WordPress Custom Navigation Menus
All Solostream premium WordPress themes now use the Custom Menu Management function that shipped with WordPress 3.0. If you don’t have the latest version of your theme, you can download the necessary files from the Members Area (you’ll have to log in to access the files for download).
I also did a short screencast (below) to show you how the menu management system works. It’s fairly intuitive, but I’ve already had a few questions on it, so here ya go.
Why you should upgrade to WordPress 3.0 – In a word, security. The added functionality in WP 3.0 is great, but some people are happy with their current version of WP and prefer not to upgrade. It’s fine if you don’t upgrade, but it leaves you at greater risk of having your site get hacked. And I can tell you from experience, it’s no fun when your WordPress site gets hacked. So, for that reason, you should always run the most recent version of WordPress on your sites.
Now, here’s the tutorial I promised …
How to Fix Your WordPress Site If It Gets Hacked (Part Three)
PART III: Plugins to Make Your Life Easier
Below is a list of plugins that I have used to harden WordPress (and make my life easier). In no particular order, they are:
WP Security Scan – Scans your WordPress installation for security vulnerabilities and suggests corrective actions.
1. passwords
2. file permissions
3. database security
4. version hiding
5. WordPress admin protection/security
6. removes WP Generator META tag from core code
How to Fix Your WordPress Site If It Gets Hacked (Part Two)
PART II: Database Modification and WP Admin
If you’re reading this, I can empathize. It’s really a downer when you’ve realized that your database has been compromised, but hopefully we can get things working right again.
How to Fix Your WordPress Site If It Gets Hacked (Part One)
PART I: Introduction and Housecleaning
It’s no fun when your WordPress site gets hacked. I had a first-hand experience the other day when I was told by my brother that it happened to his site. After being able to successfully get it up and running again, I’d like to now share some helpful information and a step-by-step guide with all of you.
New WordPress Theme: WP-Prosper
WP-Prosper is the latest and greatest offering to join our growing stable of WordPress themes. Like all of our recent themes, WP-Prosper is a flexible theme that’s loaded with options and multiple home page layouts, as well as a clean, professional design to make your WordPress site really pop.
Here are just a few of the options. First, we’ve given you not one but two different featured content gliders; a narrow one and a wide one. We also added a nice little YouTube videos widget that you can simply drag and drop into your sidebar or footer. The the other addition is a simple Sales Page template that you can use to create a sales page or squeeze page. You can see all these options displayed on the demo site.
And of course, with the recent release of WordPress 3.0, we have integrated support for the slick, new WordPress menu system. I just posted a demo video on YouTube, so pop on over to the WP-Prosper sales page and check it out if you want to get a closer look.
Customer Spotlight Interview: Automoblog by Chris Burdick
Site Name: Automoblog
Site Owner: Chris Burdick
WordPress Theme Used: A Custom Mix of Solostream Themes With WP-Genius Base
1. How do you describe the site?
Automoblog.net is a blog for car enthusiasts and consumers. We like to focus on what isn’t typically talked about in your “corporate” type car websites, pointing out benefits and problems with particular cars that add to or detract from the driving experience, instead of only talking about efficiency and numbers. The feel of Automoblog.net isn’t as much about journalism, but more like you’re sitting around the garage chatting with friends over a beer.
2. How old is the site?
We’re coming up on four years this month.
3. What made you decide to launch this particular site?
Originally it was a hobby. I’ve always been a car nut, and I couldn’t find a place online that talked about what I care to hear about, so I started my own site to vent my opinions on great cars as well as the crappy ones. Your big-name car magazines and websites tend to focus on mainstream, well-known cars, and while we definitely cover those, some of the more off-the-wall and one-off cars can be the most interesting. I wanted a place where people could read about those cars too, and become part of our community.
4. What’s you business model (i.e. how do you generate revenue) for the site?
It’s always changing, of course, but most of my income comes from direct ad sales. I don’t do any searching for partners, they all seem to come to me. Maybe I should raise my price. CPC has been a good steady income as well; I use Adsense and Yieldbuild throughout the site, and I’m currently testing Netseer, which is doing fairly well. I’ve tried some affiliate networks, and the only one I’ve found success with so far is Commission Junction.
New WordPress Theme WP-Glide
We just launched WP-Glide, the latest premium WordPress theme from Solostream HQ. In WP-Glide, we wanted to provide a clean, professional platform for the business website publisher as well as bloggers and online magazine publishers. So, we incorporated several different home page options, including a couple of options with some widgets positioned just under the top navigation bar. And like most of our previous themes, WP-Glide offers a built-in theme settings page that makes it snap to use.
Piano Keyboard Reviews: A Well-Executed Niche WordPress Site
The following is an email interview I did with one of our fine customers, Dan Maynard, who uses WP-Chatter on his WordPress site. When I saw Dan’s site, I thought it was a great example of a perfectly executed niche-content website.
Are you using one of our Premium WordPress themes to publish a really cool site of your own? If so, we’d like to shine the spotlight you too, so give us a shout, and we’ll conduct an email interview like this one.
Site Name: Piano Keyboard Reviews
Link to Site: piano keyboard
Site Owner: Dan Maynard
WordPress Theme Used: WP-Chatter
1. How would you describe your site?
My site is really a resource to help the [piano keyboard] buyer to make the right purchase decision. It is strictly focused on digital pianos, synthesizers, and workstations rather than acoustic pianos. Given the myriad of electronic keyboards on the market today, it can be difficult to make the right selection. I am a classically trained pianist and have played in many bands in the past (remember the good old days of Santana, Grand Funk Railroad, Doobie Brothers etc.)
Back in those days you only really had two choices to select from, Hammond organ such as the B3, analog synthesizer, or Wurlitzer/Fender electric pianos. Today there are so many keyboards out there that it makes it difficult to choose. My site helps the bewildered musician make a choice. I am also a full time marketer plying my trade to my piano site.
My site differs in some respects because I focus on people’s playing styles and help them to select a keyboard that matches their style. Hence I segment the keyboardist market based on playing styles and match the keyboard accordingly. I discovered no one is doing that. So I’ve carved out a fairly neat niche in the piano market. Have a look at “Power Player” which defines the player styles.
